Iran and Angola ended their 2006 World Cup campaigns with a point apiece after playing out a 1-1 draw in Leipzig.
The game lacked quality throughout, but it was Angola who looked the more dangerous going forward but were let down by their finishing on more than one occasion when in good positions.
Flavio gave the Angolans the lead with the country's first goal at a World Cup finals, which for a short period had given them hope of still qualifying for the second round, but all hopes were dashed by Sohrab Baktiarizadeh's 75th minute header.
After a slow start to the game, where neither side really took too many risks, it was Angola who had the first chance of the match when Joao Ricardo's long kick upfield was flicked on by Fabrice Akwa, but Andre Mateus wasted a good chance by firing high when he had time to compose himself.
It took until the 15th minute for either goalkeeper to be tested, but like London buses, two came within a minute of each other, Ferydoon Zandi and Paulo Figueiredo forcing good low saves from their oppositions' keeper.
Iran should have been ahead at the mid-point of the first half when veteran goalscorer Ali Daei headed over in acres of space.
After failing to clear an Iran free kick, the Angolan area was quickly swarmed by players and somehow Daei got away from his marker but when found from the cross, the 37-year-old sent the header from 10 yards looping over the crossbar.
Daei's strike partner Vahid Hashemian did much better with the next chance of the match but was denied by Antonio Mendonca on the line.
A dangerous corner from the left was flapped at by Ricardo, leaving Hashemian with an almost empty goal to aim his header, but he only hit the back-tracking Mendonca's thigh with the attempt.
After averting the danger at the other end, Angola began to put a foothold on the game, with striker Akwa causing a somewhat sparse Iranian backline problems with his pace and movement.
However, his finishing failed to match his desire to be on the ball as he shot over twice in quick succession.
Angola's continued improvement saw a further two chances before the break, with Ebrahim Mirzapour finally tested just close to half time.
Miloy sent a powerful shot the wrong side of the post before substitute Love's turn and shot was well dealt with by the 27-year-old goalkeeper.
In between the two chances for The Black Antelopes, Ricardo was forced into a save by Andranik Teymourian, which he fumbled before gathering at the second attempt with Iran's strikers bearing down on goal.
Angola continued from where they left off at the end of the first half in the early stages of the second with the threatening Mendonca going close twice with efforts from the edge of the area.
The unconvincing Ricardo again made a mess of a long-range shot from an Iran player, this time Mehdi Mahdavikia seeing his shot only parried by the Angola keeper when a simple catch would have been the better option.
Angola finally made one of their numerous chances pay off on the hour mark as substitute Flavio headed their first-ever World Cup goal in their third match at these finals.
The striker had only been on the field a matter of minutes when he met Ze Kalanga's cross from the right-hand side and headed coolly past a stranded Mirzapour.
Not content to sit on their first win in the World Cup, the African minnows continued to push for more goals but were again let down by their finishing as Mendonca and Love failed to really trouble Iran's goalkeeper.
With Mexico losing to Portugal in the other Group D game, Angola still harboured hopes of reaching the knock-out stages in their debut World Cup campaign.
However, they were caught out by a simple corner routine with 15 minutes remaining as Baktiarizadeh headed into the bottom corner to end any realistic hopes Angola had of beating Mexico to second place in the group.
Mahdavikia's corner was superbly met by the stopper on the penalty spot and he guided the ball into the unguarded corner of the goal to give Ricardo no chance of making the save.
Both teams seemed happy to play out the remaining 15 minutes of the match without putting in too much effort as their campaigns came to an end after just three games.
The game lacked quality throughout, but it was Angola who looked the more dangerous going forward but were let down by their finishing on more than one occasion when in good positions.
Flavio gave the Angolans the lead with the country's first goal at a World Cup finals, which for a short period had given them hope of still qualifying for the second round, but all hopes were dashed by Sohrab Baktiarizadeh's 75th minute header.
After a slow start to the game, where neither side really took too many risks, it was Angola who had the first chance of the match when Joao Ricardo's long kick upfield was flicked on by Fabrice Akwa, but Andre Mateus wasted a good chance by firing high when he had time to compose himself.
It took until the 15th minute for either goalkeeper to be tested, but like London buses, two came within a minute of each other, Ferydoon Zandi and Paulo Figueiredo forcing good low saves from their oppositions' keeper.
Iran should have been ahead at the mid-point of the first half when veteran goalscorer Ali Daei headed over in acres of space.
After failing to clear an Iran free kick, the Angolan area was quickly swarmed by players and somehow Daei got away from his marker but when found from the cross, the 37-year-old sent the header from 10 yards looping over the crossbar.
Daei's strike partner Vahid Hashemian did much better with the next chance of the match but was denied by Antonio Mendonca on the line.
A dangerous corner from the left was flapped at by Ricardo, leaving Hashemian with an almost empty goal to aim his header, but he only hit the back-tracking Mendonca's thigh with the attempt.
After averting the danger at the other end, Angola began to put a foothold on the game, with striker Akwa causing a somewhat sparse Iranian backline problems with his pace and movement.
However, his finishing failed to match his desire to be on the ball as he shot over twice in quick succession.
Angola's continued improvement saw a further two chances before the break, with Ebrahim Mirzapour finally tested just close to half time.
Miloy sent a powerful shot the wrong side of the post before substitute Love's turn and shot was well dealt with by the 27-year-old goalkeeper.
In between the two chances for The Black Antelopes, Ricardo was forced into a save by Andranik Teymourian, which he fumbled before gathering at the second attempt with Iran's strikers bearing down on goal.
Angola continued from where they left off at the end of the first half in the early stages of the second with the threatening Mendonca going close twice with efforts from the edge of the area.
The unconvincing Ricardo again made a mess of a long-range shot from an Iran player, this time Mehdi Mahdavikia seeing his shot only parried by the Angola keeper when a simple catch would have been the better option.
Angola finally made one of their numerous chances pay off on the hour mark as substitute Flavio headed their first-ever World Cup goal in their third match at these finals.
The striker had only been on the field a matter of minutes when he met Ze Kalanga's cross from the right-hand side and headed coolly past a stranded Mirzapour.
Not content to sit on their first win in the World Cup, the African minnows continued to push for more goals but were again let down by their finishing as Mendonca and Love failed to really trouble Iran's goalkeeper.
With Mexico losing to Portugal in the other Group D game, Angola still harboured hopes of reaching the knock-out stages in their debut World Cup campaign.
However, they were caught out by a simple corner routine with 15 minutes remaining as Baktiarizadeh headed into the bottom corner to end any realistic hopes Angola had of beating Mexico to second place in the group.
Mahdavikia's corner was superbly met by the stopper on the penalty spot and he guided the ball into the unguarded corner of the goal to give Ricardo no chance of making the save.
Both teams seemed happy to play out the remaining 15 minutes of the match without putting in too much effort as their campaigns came to an end after just three games.
